


Bad Decisions

by HitherDither



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Food Poisoning, Gen, Nausea, Sickstuck, Vomit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 10:23:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13611375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HitherDither/pseuds/HitherDither
Summary: Eridan is cheap as hell and likes to eat sushi from gas stations. This comes back to bite him really hard when he hangs out with Karkat.





	Bad Decisions

**Author's Note:**

> Authors admission: some of the best sushi I ever had came from a Houston sushi place that's part of a gas station. I live a dangerous life on the edge.

Eridan tossed his empty food container in a trashcan as they made their way down the street. Karkat sighed loudly and shook his head. “Just hanging out today reveal two glaring reasons why you’re still single. You chew with your mouth open like a god damn dog, and you made me stop at an honest to fuck gas station so you could get sushi.”

Wiping his hands on his shirt, Eridan swallowed the last bit of food in his mouth. “Ok, first of all, I’ve gone to that place for a long time and they have amazin’ food. Second of all I don’t remember askin’ your opinion on my eating habits.” The two continued walking while Karkat rolled his eyes in exasperation. “You didn’t need to ask, I got an earful without you even saying a word.”

The walk back to Karkat’s house wasn’t too long, only about fifteen minutes, and they passed the time passing pointless banter back and forth. The weather that night had been pleasant for an outing, even though they had spent most of the time indoors at an arcade. After dropping twenty dollars in quarters on games that won them only three dollars in prizes, it was an easy choice to head back for free entertainment at Karkat’s instead.

The house was dark and empty, and Karkat flipped the lights on and locked the door behind them as Eridan made for the couch to start channel flipping. “Getting something to drink, you want anything?” His voice rose from the kitchen, loud enough to be heard over the sudden volume of the television coming on.

Eridan tried to get comfortable on the couch and pulled at the waistband of his pants. Shortly before they had reached the house, his stomach had started to feel a little bloated, and it was distracting. “Carbonated water” was his response as he started changing channels with one hand. His other hand was rubbing his stomach gently, trying to soothe it.

“Carbonated water? Seriously?” Karkat poked his head out into the living room. “That flavorless crap?”. Eridan’s eye twitched in annoyance as he shifted around on the couch cushions so more. “Since when do you go railin’ on my drink choices?”. The pressure in his stomach hurt, and it sort of felt like he had to burp. Carbonated water was perfect, flavor be damned.

“I’m going to have to have a long talk with you about proper food and drink.” There was a glassy rattle of drink bottles as Karkat kicked the fridge door shut with his foot. Entering the living room, he held out the bottle of carbonated water out to Eridan while his other hand held a much more respectable bottle of iced coffee. There was no contest between the two drinks, honestly. “You’re lucky I even had any of that crap left. Please liberate it from me so I can put some other junk in my drink rack.”

Shoving the glass bottle between his knees, Eridan popped the top off with one hand while the other still held down the buttons on the remote. He was an unforgiving channel surfer, and everyone just had to deal with it until he found something worthwhile. At least for Karkat’s sake the guy had good taste in television if nothing else.

The tv finally stopped flicking and settled on a dating reality show. Definitely a Vantas guilty pleasure, but not really something his friend usually enjoyed. With raised eyebrows Karkat laid back against the couch cushions and settled himself in. “Wow, thanks. I owe you later.” He was drawn in instantly, blocking out everything else for the moment.

This reaction is exactly what Eridan had hoped for. He was really starting to feel rank and he didn’t want eyes on him while he dealt with it. Sipping slowly at the carbonated water, he hoped it’d start to act quickly. One hand held his drink while the other, now remoteless hand, gingerly rubbed the front of his shirt. The feeling of the carbonated bubbles roiling around wasn’t exactly pleasant, but all he wanted to do was belch out everything that was making him miserable.

Karkat did really owe him though. While he squirmed around in his spot trying to make his stomach bend to his will he listened to the show with a sort of morbid curiosity. It was so bland that it rested its entire premise on overdramatization, drawing out what should be a five minute segment into thirty. This was the troll that was hounding him about taste, indeed.

With a low, quiet gurgle, his stomach seemed to flip momentarily. In just half a second it was over, thankfully, but the effects seemed to ricochet to all parts of Eridan’s body. His skin suddenly felt clammy, and his fingers and toes tingled. A weird coolness settled over his gills, and he took another sip of his drink. Things didn’t seem right, but he hoped that if he gave his body a few minutes things would sort themselves out.

Focused on himself, he was oblivious to the show switching to commercials. “You feeling alright? You’re pale as shit.” Karkat was a pretty abrasive person, but he always knew when to put a slight tone of concern in his voice. Eridan stuck his tongue out. “Watchin’ this crap is suckin the life out of me. Next time a war documentary comes on you better not complain.” A big, toothy grin stretched across Karkat’s face, and he propped his legs up on his cushion while turning his attention back to the screen. “Deal.”

He was so, so glad that the show took away Karkat’s attention at that moment, because suddenly he did not want to talk anymore. A gross, trembly feeling was settling on his body, and in response to this ill sensation his brain was freezing up. He was really starting to walk the line between feeling shitty and yarking his guts up, and his instinct was to keep as still and quiet as possible in an attempt to let his body calm down.

With more muted groaning noises from his belly, a big lump rose up Eridan’s throat. It could be the burp he was waiting on, or it could be vomit ready to splatter on his lap. He wasn’t sure what to do, it hurt like hell coming up, and if it was really just air it would be that much more painful to swallow back down. Shakily raising his hand, he formed a fist and whacked his chest to test it. A little bit of relief eased into him as the lump reacted in the typical belch fashion, and he allowed it to come up with a little pop sound.

It didn’t really help him feel better, and he definitely didn’t sign up for the aftertaste. It clung to the back of his throat thickly and tasted like acid and bad seafood. Beads of sweat began forming on his forehead and his arms, while a chill settled on his shoulders and ears. He froze up again, forcefully trying to will the feelings away to no avail.

With his body paralyzed with an ill-fated response mechanism, he had no way to ask for help, or even to warn Karkat. Things were turning bad real fast, his stomach churned, and cold cramp seized his midriff like ice water flowing through his intestines. His throat tightened, and he heaved with a wet cough. Nothing came up, but his ears filled with the sound of flowing blood as if it was rushing to aid his stomach in staging a revolt.

He gagged again, a choked “Gack!” once again emanating from his throat. This time he felt hot liquid rising up his throat, though it didn’t make it all the way up. His arms and legs were trembling and covered in a sheen of sweat, and every second felt like forever as he waited for his innards to seize up again.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Eridan-!” Karkat was not fast enough noticing his friend’s plight and didn’t even make it off his ass before a thick stream of burning liquid gushed from Eridan’s mouth onto his own lap. Grabbing his shoulders, Karkat tried to comfort him as he puked again. The second time was even worse than the first one, chunks of semi-digested rice and fish pouring out of him and all over the floor. Karkat jumped off the couch and tried to pull him up. “Just- get up, let’s try to get to the bathroom- “.

It was a valiant effort, but Eridan barely had time to take a breath before he vomited that horrible, mushy sludge with so much force that it splashed on Karkat’s slacks. As soon as it was out of him he coughed and gasped, trying to get some air into him after the violent episode. “I-I’m so… so sorry,” he only managed the mumbled apology before going at it again, but this time bringing up mostly air with a little bit of thin liquid.

Karkat was caught in conflicting emotions. On one hand he wanted to comfort and help Eridan, and on the other hand he was trying not to hark up his earlier meal himself. His pants were already getting cold where he’d been splashed, and the air was thick with the disgusting, acrid stench of half digested foodstuffs. He was wracked by one very forceful gag before he managed to control himself. “Bathroom- let’s get you to the bathroom.”

Eridan’s legs were shaking so bad that he didn’t know if he could stand up, but with Karkat’s help he managed to stay on his own two feet. The journey to the bathroom felt much longer than it really had to have been, and he was grateful when he was able to drop to the cold tile floor. Exhausted, he leaned his head against the cool enamel of the tub while Karkat shucked off his own pants. His limbs felt like jelly and his back hurt, but he was slowly disrobed by his very patient friend.

“Are you empty, or do I have to be ready for any more surprises?” The sound Eridan’s stomach made immediately after the inquiry seemed to answer. “I’ll take that as a maybe.” He was left to rest as Karkat reached over and started drawing a bath.

While all sorts of weird sounds were still going on in his abdomen, Eridan really did feel a lot better. The cold sweat still covered his skin though, and that was worrying. “That stupid fuckin’ food- never eatin there again.”

“Your damn right you won’t,” finally satisfied with the water temperature, Karkat leaned over to help the other troll into the tub, “If I ever find out you’ve even thought about going there again I’ll beat you with a stick.”


End file.
